Israel announces, welcomes Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard's release from U.S. prison

Jonathan Pollard, Israeli spy, is free from prison — (Image credit: AP/YouTube)

Early Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Jonathan Pollard, a former U.S. Navy analyst arrested in 1985 for passing huge amounts of U.S. intelligence and classified documents to Israel, has been released from a federal prison in Butner, North Carolina. The U.S. intelligence community had strongly opposed Pollard's release on parole, arguing that he did immense harm to U.S. security and probably compromised undercover U.S. agents, but Pollard is considered a hero by many Israelis.

In a statement, Netanyahu said that Israelis "welcome the release" and that he himself "had long hoped this day would come" and had "raised Jonathan’s case for years" with successive U.S. presidents. "May this Sabbath bring him much joy and peace that will continue in the years and decades ahead," he added. Earlier Netanyahu had urged his government and citizens not to celebrate Pollard's release too publicly, out of consideration for bilateral relations with the U.S. Pollard's second wife, Ester, criticized the U.S. for not allowing Pollard to join her in Israel during his five-year parole, as stipulated under U.S. law. His supporters say they have secured work for him somewhere in New York. For more on the Pollard case, The Associated Press has a good summary in the video below. Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.